Tipsheet

An Obama Prebuttal by Bush?

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is schedule to make a Washington speech about Iraq policy at 10:45am in which he will call the Iraq war a "distraction."

Got an email this morning around nine saying President Bush will be holding a Q and A at 10:20am. Perfect timing to work himself into all the coverage of Obama's speech. I'm betting the President will have something (veiled of course) to say about Obama's "distraction' and maybe Obama's decision to quit calling the surge a "problem"  (as detailed by Hugh below) and start recognizing its success.

McCain will pile on, too. He's planning to make this statement at a town hall meeting later today in Ohio: Obama "is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to General Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time."